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Morality question? |
True story: There is a father and son driving down a country dirt road. It is very foggy out and the family dog suddenly appears running along side the car barking. The dog has never acted like this before and the father and son think it very strange. The dog then runs directly in front of the car but they stop too late. They get out of the car and the dog is dead. 20 feet in front of the car the boy sees his younger brother in the middle of the road pushing his bike which had broken. The dog had jumped in front of the car to save the boys life. Was this a 鈥榤oral鈥?act on the part of the dog? If so, is there any higher morality then what this dog displayed? I don't think your story reflects a moral act on the part of the dog. I don't believe dogs are capable of the type of higher thought that includes the understanding of morality. What I do think is that a dog acting in a similar manner is displaying their natural "protect the pack" behavior. There are countless stories of dogs saving people from burning homes or who have fallen in the water. The interesting thing about those stories is that unless the dog has specifically been trained to do those types of things for people in general, they usually only do it for "their" people, meaning the family they live with. (I have heard of one exception, and that is dogs protecting children who are not technically members of their "pack", but the child in question is usually around the dog a lot, or plays a lot with the children in the family, so I would imagine the dog considers it a member of "his pack", as well.) The reason for that is because they have learned to see "their people" as members of their pack, and their natural instincts tell them to protect their packmates. I live very near the mountains, and there was a story in the local news two winters ago that was very interesting. A young boy went out to the family's detached garage to get the snow blower so he could clear the driveway. When he approached the side door to the garage, the family dog barked and snarled at him, a behavior that the family had never seen before. The boy was a little put off, but pushed the dog out of the way and grabbed the doorknob. The dog bit him hard enough to draw blood. The boy ran in the house, and his father went out to investigate while his mother took care of the bite. The dog also barked and snarled at the father. The father finally pushed the dog out of the way, but before he could get the door open, the dog bit him in the leg, and holding on to his jeans, forcibly dragged him away from the door. The father later told reporters that the dog was "in a frenzy". While the father was trying to figure out what was wrong with the dog, he heard a loud thump in the garage, and then a bunch of stuff falling to the floor, followed by an enraged snarl and a hiss. He immediately called animal control services, and when they arrived, two officers, one with a dart gun, went into the garage, only to find a very angry mountain lion inside. They were able to dart the cat and release it up in the mountains. When the media reported on the story, one reporter thought to go a little deeper, and contacted a professor at a local university who specializes in Canid behavior. His take on the whole thing was that the dog's behavior was entirely natural when viewed in light of it wanting to protect its packmates. A wild Canid, such as a wolf, would communicate in other ways, such as vocalizations or body language, to protect its packmates from danger. Since the dog couldn't make himself understood in any other way, he had to resort to physically restraining "his people" to keep them out of danger. If you research it, you will find countless stories of dogs doing anything, including dying, in an effort to protect "their people". For them, it's a matter of instinct. For me, it just reinforces my view that dogs are great and helps me remember why I am a "dog person". Just a watch dog doing his job! Canines are not capable of higher thought of the type you infer! The dog gave his life to save his friend's life. You can't get any better than that. No it's just a dead dog! uncomon sense Since this never happened, the answer is moot. Nice story... shame it would never happen. A dog will not run from behind a car, to in front of a car to save someone who is 20 feet further on!! |
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